Hong Kong Proposes Criminalising Bid-Rigging in Building Maintenance Sector

Criminalising bid-rigging to bring ‘revolutionary overhaul’ to sector: minister

Proposed reforms target building maintenance standards

Hong Kong’s proposed legislative amendments will criminalise bid-rigging as part of a government effort to raise standards and strengthen oversight in the building maintenance industry.

Justice minister Paul Lam said the reforms were intended to bring a “revolutionary overhaul” to the city’s building maintenance ecosystem.

The government’s measures are aimed at cracking down on bid-rigging and changing how the sector operates.

Lam said the legislation would help rid the building maintenance industry of bad actors and bring in reputable professionals.

The proposals were announced after the government unveiled a range of measures in response to an independent committee report on the Tai Po fire.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok discussed the proposed amendments three days after the government released those measures.

He said the amendments aimed to improve standards across the sector and strengthen oversight of building maintenance work.

“The market currently offers too lucrative a piece of ‘fat meat’ that has been monopolised by bad people,” Lam told a radio programme on Sunday.

The government’s broader reform effort therefore links the criminalisation of bid-rigging with stronger supervision and a change in the professionals working in the industry.

The measures are intended to address what the justice minister described as a market dominated by bad actors and to support a more reputable building maintenance sector.

Source: South China Morning Post